The Girls Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest: Political Prisoners

This letter came in via the Phoenix Anarchists. Answer Lynne's call to support political prisoners and remember the Arpaio 5 next week. Grace Daniels gets sentenced and taken into custody by the MCSO on November 22. Check their blogspot for jail visiting info, and current news on Claire and Garyn - they're up next.

Be careful in there, Grace - don't let them give you more time. We're counting on you to come back and help lead the revolution...

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For those who don't know [Lynne] Stewart is a 70 year old radical attorney who was imprisoned for staunchly defending her clients -- as a post-911 threat to other leftist and progressive attorneys to "back off"....

Buried Alive, But Fighting On

- A Letter to Friends from Lynne Stewart


In the best-selling Steig Larsson trilogy, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, the heroine, Lisbeth Salander, a hardwired, brilliant young computer genius is shot and presumed to be dead, but is actually buried alive by the antagonist. He is a prototype of the cruel, greedy, misogynistic, exploiter.

She claws herself out of her premature grave and, indomitable and focused, defeats him. Finally by the end of volume three she has triumphed-using her own brains and, relying on her friends and comrades-over the entire corrupt corporate, governmental, military power structure that had been trying to oppress and suppress her, her whole life.

Thursday, July 15, Federal Judge John Koeltl attempted to bury me alive.

Acting for the Government and Judges of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, he sentenced me at their demand, to more than five times the term he originally thought "right and just." With his new sentence, of ten years, I am buried in the Prison Industrial Complex until I am nearly 80 years old, if I make it. But, believe me, I, like Lisbeth Salander, intend to lift the dirt off and, even if weakened and wounded, regain my voice and strength!

Like Lisbeth, I too will always fight back. Justice has been my life, and upholding the Bill of Rights, my joy to defend and utilize on behalf of the People. Since I am now reduced to asking everyone's support and help for personal problems, whether medical or designation of my prison, or other legal issues, I want everyone to know what's expected and to have immediate connection to the people who will continue to be responsible for me and getting the word out.

Along with that, I hope you will maintain contact if there is an opportunity where you live or at an event sponsored by your organization, to speak out about my current situation and highlight the injustice of increasing my sentence only to satisfy the most conservative judicial elements and feed the fear of the so-called war on terrorism.

Sources:

1. Website, complete with sentencing minutes and submissions to the Court, articles, comment, letters, and upcoming events: www.lynnestewart.orghttp://www.lynnestewart.org/>

2. Live persons: Ralph Poynter, 917 853-9759;

email: Lynne Stewart Organization: 1lawyerleft@gmail.com3.

Snail Mail: Lynne Stewart, #555304054, MCC NY, 150 Park Row, New York, NY10007, or Ralph Poynter, 1020 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY 112164.

Email: 1lawyerleft@gmail.com

Medical: I still have a number of unresolved conditions-mysterious spot on my uterus to be checked (biopsy) for possible cancer, monitoring of bladder condition, a newly discovered kidney stone. My chronic problems undertreatment-diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and assorted aches and pains and annoyances of aging! The Judge directed that I stay at MCC in NewYork City so that my doctor will continue to be responsible for my treatment. Our daughter, Dr. Zenobia Brown, will continue to consult with him.

Prisons: The Judge also directed that I remain at MCC during the pursuit of an appeal. He also recommended to the Bureau of Prisons that I be sent for imprisonment to Danbury FCI in Connecticut, about two hours driving, or on Metro North Rail line, from New York City. Visiting conditions will be much better and I will be able to see more of my family and supporters for longer periods in more ameliorative surroundings. Of course, the Bureau of Prisons is a law unto itself and if it decides I need to go elsewhere, the Judge's recommendation doesn't control. There are a limited number of women's prisons. They are in Minnesota, Florida, California, and West Virginia.

There is also the Federal Prison Hospital for Women in Carswell, Texas (near Fort Worth).

The Numbers: ten years equals 120 months; 87 percent Good Time Credit for Good Behavior equals 104.4 months; Already Served, equals eight months.Totaled out, it is approximately eight years. The last six to 12 months is usually served in a halfway house (but nothing about this case has ever been usual!) The Grand Total is 84 months more to go.

Where so we go from here legally?

Court-wise, we are still making decisions about Possibilities of Appeals, Campaigns for Commutation, Clemency, etc. Keep in touch with the Web Page.

There will always be issues for me. Incidentally, I mentioned at sentencing that I had volunteered to teach GED and Literacy in here, and had been turned down - BOP regulations. They have neither program, nor any education program for the women. The following Monday, a sign-up sheet was posted for...GED and Literacy classes, a first here according to long term prisoners!!! The classes have started. You never know what can work! I was also asked how much time I could give. We'll see.

Just as the establishment tried to finish off Lisbeth Salander by burying her alive, I too am trying to dig myself out. Give me an assist. Continue the work. That is most important to me. Join the ongoing campaigns for Justice for the Scott Sisters, MumiaAbu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace (of The AngolaThree).

Remember All the Political Prisoners. Write to them. Put a little something in their commissary.

Force the government to End the Imperialist Wars.

Fight Racism. Fight for Palestine.

Challenge the Politicians. Demand that they tell you where they stand on Me.

Resist! Resist! Resist! Resist! Resist!

My gratitude and boundless embraces for everything everyone has done.

Love/Struggle

Lynne Stewart
53504-054 MCC-NY 2-S
150 Park Row
New York, NY 10007

Davon Acklin's life and Adam Montoya's ghost.

For those who still think that prisoners get great medical care, think again. This is not an unusual story...sounds like Marcia Powell's.

If you wish you could have helped this guy - or Marcia Powell, for that matter - and want to know how to make a difference here: please take a minute and help someone still living. Free Davon Acklin. That will take you straight to the petition his mom has going supporting her request that he be pardoned by Governor Brewer so she can bring him home for medical care.

He's only 23, and he has hep C and needs a liver biopsy. He's not getting treatment at the ADC, either, so your time and good name for the cause would be appreciated.

------------------from Salon.com-----------------------

Ill. inmate died in agony while pleading for help

By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press
June 27, 2010

For days before he died in a federal prison, Adam Montoya pleaded with guards to be taken to a doctor, pressing a panic button in his cell over and over to summon help that never came.

An autopsy concluded that the 36-year-old inmate suffered from no fewer than three serious illnesses -- cancer, hepatitis and HIV. The cancer ultimately killed him, causing his spleen to burst. Montoya bled to death internally.

But the coroner and a pathologist were more stunned by another finding: The only medication in his system was a trace of over-the-counter pain reliever.

That means Montoya, imprisoned for a passing counterfeit checks, had been given nothing to ease the excruciating pain that no doubt wracked his body for days or weeks before death.

"He shouldn't have died in agony like that," Coroner Dennis Conover said. "He had been out there long enough that he should have at least died in the hospital."

The FBI recently completed an investigation into Montoya's death and gave its findings to the Justice Department, which is reviewing the case. If federal prosecutors conclude that Montoya's civil rights were violated, they could take action against the prison, its guards, or both. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment, saying that the matter was still being investigated.

The coroner said guards should have been aware that something was seriously wrong with the inmate. And outside experts agree that the symptoms of cancer and hepatitis would have been hard to miss: dramatic weight loss, a swollen abdomen, yellow eyes.

During Montoya's final days, he "consistently made requests to the prison for medical attention, and they wouldn't give it to him," said his father, Juan Montoya, who described how his son repeatedly punched the panic button. Three inmates corroborated that account in interviews with The Associated Press.

The younger Montoya was taken to the prison clinic one day for "maybe five, 10 minutes," his father said. "And they gave him Tylenol, and that was it. He suffered a lot."

The federal prison in Pekin will not discuss Montoya's death. Prison spokesman Jay Henderson referred questions to the Bureau of Prisons, which denied an AP request for information on Montoya's medical condition, citing privacy laws.

It isn't clear whether the prison system, relatives or even Montoya himself knew the full extent of his illness. Montoya's father had no idea his son had cancer or hepatitis. Inmates who knew him said he told them he had cancer, but they knew nothing of his HIV.

According to its website, the Bureau of Prisons tries to screen the health of new inmates within 24 hours of their arrival. A closer examination within two weeks is required for prisoners with serious, long-term illnesses. But officials have not said whether Montoya was given any kind of exam or whether his medical records made it to Pekin.

Montoya pleaded guilty in May 2009 to counterfeiting commercial checks, credit cards and gift cards. Prosecutors will not say how much money was involved in the scheme, but Montoya was ordered to pay a little over $2,000 in restitution.

Montoya, who had a history of methamphetamine abuse, was released while awaiting sentencing and was ordered not to use drugs. At the time, he was living with his father and working for his father's process-serving business, which delivers legal documents. His father said he was paying Montoya's bills and paying him about $300 a week.

Then in mid-June, Adam Montoya was diagnosed with HIV.

"It hit him like a ton of bricks," his father said.

After the diagnosis, Montoya retreated back into methamphetamine. Following a urine test, he admitted using the drug three times in a month, and he was locked up.

Montoya began taking antiviral drugs, so his father still had hope and tried to give his son a sense of the same. "I thought, 'You'll get out. You'll get your probation, and you'll have years of life," the elder Montoya said.

In mid-October, Montoya was sentenced to two years and three months in prison. When he arrived at a federal prison transfer center in Oklahoma City, his medication was waiting for him. His father took that to mean that the prison system knew Montoya suffered from HIV.

Montoya arrived at the Pekin prison on Oct. 26. He lived just 18 more days. The inmates around him say he spent much of that time pleading for help from his cell.

Prison staff told Montoya he had the flu, according to Randy Rader, an inmate in the next cell who wrote letters to his mother about Montoya and discussed him in an e-mail interview with the AP.

"That man begged these people for nine days locked behind these doors," Rader wrote to his mother on Nov. 14. The letter was first obtained by The Pekin Daily Times, which wrote about Montoya's death earlier this year.

Rader has since been moved to a prison in California -- far from his family in Michigan. He suspects the move was retaliation for speaking out about Montoya.

The last time a staff member visited Montoya, about 10 p.m. on Nov. 12, he reported having trouble breathing and complained that he could no longer feel his fingers, Rader said in the e-mail interview. The staff member told Montoya that he would try to get help the next day.

Around 6:30 a.m., prison officials found Montoya's body in his cell.

The autopsy showed that Montoya's spleen was almost 10 times the normal weight because it had been engulfed by a cancerous tumor, which was on its way to doing the same with his liver.

The pathologist who examined Montoya's body said his eyes were also yellow -- an unmistakable sign of hepatitis. Dr. John Ralston is reluctant to speculate whether treatment could have saved Montoya's life by the time he reached Pekin. The doctor suspects he would have needed a liver transplant to have a chance.

That said, "You would think that he would have been feeling bad enough and complaining enough that somebody should have tried to get to the bottom of this," Ralston said.

The AP sought opinions about Montoya's condition from other doctors who did not examine him but were familiar with his diseases. They agreed he probably displayed obvious signs of distress.

Montoya would have had a swollen abdomen because of his spleen. At the same time, he probably was losing weight rapidly because the large tumor would have left little room in his belly for food, according to Dr. Krishna Rao, an assistant professor of oncology at Southern Illinois University Medical School in Springfield.

Someone in Montoya's condition should have been taking heavy doses of chemotherapy for his cancer or receiving stem cell transplants, if he were healthy enough, said Dr. James Egner, an oncologist with the Carle Foundation Hospital in Champaign.

If the cancer was too advanced, Montoya should have at least been treated for pain with powerful drugs, possibly in a hospice, Egner said.

The president of the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project said it isn't uncommon for medical records not to arrive with a federal inmate.

"Sometimes it arrives late, and sometimes it doesn't happen at all," said David Fathi, who has spent 15 years studying prison conditions. "That's why it's so critical that the new facilities do a medical screening" of new inmates.

Fahti said Montoya's death "is really an egregious failure, of the kind that you wouldn't expect from even a small county jail, let alone the largest prison system in the United States."

After his son's death, Juan Montoya wrote to the prison complaining about its medical care. Warden Richard Rios wrote back to defend his institution.

"I must respectfully disagree with your characterization of the medical care Adam received and want to assure you that we carefully monitored you son's medical condition," wrote Rios, who was not hired for the job until months after the death. He did not elaborate, writing that privacy laws limited what he could say.

The elder Montoya is now waiting for his son's medical records, but he doubts they will offer many clues. The family has hired lawyers but has not decided whether to file a lawsuit.

Montoya thinks a lot now about the assurances he offered his son as he headed for prison.

"Your time will go by fast, and you'll get out, and we'll get you a job and be part of the family," Montoya recalls telling his son. "It never happened."

Manning BOP update: Confidential.

Here's the response I received just now from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Don't even know if it was a real person who wrote it - no one signed it, but this is the only admin email address they give us. My guess is that we kick this up another level, but I'll post the next move from Jericho when I get it.

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CUM/Exec Assistant~ CUM/Exec Assistant~	Mon, Jan 25, 2010 at 11:22 AM
To: Margaret Plews Cc: MXRO/Exec.Assistant~.MXRADM1.MXRDOM1@bop.gov
Ms. Plews:   Good afternoon.  Please be advised inmate Manning, Thomas # 10373-016, medical concerns are being closely monitored and evaluated.  Mr. Manning has been made aware of his current condition, and has been informed of the treatment plan to be implemented by our Health Services Staff at FCI Cumberland.  Due to privacy rules, we are precluded from sharing any specific information regarding Mr. Manning's medical condition or any treatment plans in place.  If you require any additional information you may file a Freedom of Information Act request at the below address.  Thanks.     Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Section Office of General Counsel, Room 841 Federal Bureau of Prisons 320 First Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20534

Tom Manning: Obama's Prisoner Now. Send Help.

This is two posts in one: top first.
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Friday, January 22, 2010

Urgent Medical Action: Prisoner Tom Manning.

From the defenestrator:


"Tom Manning is a Vietnam veteran, working class revolutionary and US political prisoner. He militantly struggled against the war in Vietnam and supports the right of self-determination of all oppressed peoples. Tom Manning was captured in 1985 and sentenced to 53 years in federal prison for a series of bombings carried out as "armed propaganda" against apartheid and U.S. imperialism. He tirelessly fought against racist, genocidal capitalism in the USA. Tom Manning was also wrongly sentenced to 80 years in prison for the self-defense killing of a New Jersey state trooper."

Tom Manning is an anti-imperialist revolutionary. The following came in today from the Jericho network. Looks like the alert is still on, so email the prison people if you can, and cc the Jericho folks on it.

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Paulette, I just rec'd this from Tom:

 

"On the medical situation, folks should demand that I be sent to Butner, NC, the Federal Medical Center for cancer treatment, monitoring, etc". --Tom Manning

Jericho has also spoken with his attorney who has already called and sent a request to get Tom moved and suggested we do the same. Here is the information needed to both call and write the Cumberland warden as well as other officials at the federal bureau of prisons.

1. Ask for Warden- However I received a reply by phone (1/22) and was told every request for a transfer for Tom must be in writing either by Fax or e-mail.  So if you can please e-mail or fax this request.

 
1 Follow the info below if you want to put vocal pressure on the Warden.

2. Have Tom's # ready "Thomas Manning 10373-016 recent transfer from USP Hazelton

3. If you reach the warden or his/her secretary explain that Tom has recently been transferred from Hazelton and had not received the medical care needed for the growth in his groin area, lump under his left nipple or the growth under his shoulder blade. His records have been reviewed by an outside doctor who urgently recommended a biopsy to check for cancer in these areas. Tom asked you to ask for an immediate transfer to the Federal Prison Hospital facility at Butner,  NC to get the necessary medical procedures done.

4. If you get a recording please leave your name and phone # for them to accept our seriousness  regarding Tom's health.

5. If you fax either place a letter be sure to give your information as well as Tom's full name & number.

6. Please send us any information you are given so that we can put pressure on the correct dept.

IF YOU KNOW OR ARE A DOCTOR OR MINISTER/IMAM PLEASE FAX A LETTER TO BOTH THE WARDEN AND REGIONAL OFFICE USING YOUR LETTERHEAD AND ASK FOR A REPLY.

THANK YOU FOR YOU HELP PAULETTE  ALBQ.JERICHO@GMAIL.COM
& ANNE AT NYCJERICHO@GMAIL.COM

FCI Cumberland Administration

Phone:  301-784-1000  ask for warden
Fax:  301-784-1008
E-mail address²:  CUM/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV

Mid Atlantic Regional Office press #1 for inmate services & you will probably have to leave a message.
Federal Bureau of Prisons
302 Sentinel Drive
Suite 200
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701

E-mail: MXRO/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV^* Phone: 301-317-3100

--
Free All Political Prisoners!
nycjericho@gmail.com • www.jerichony.org

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Warden FCI Cumberland Re: Medical for Manning.

Here's the email I sent early this AM to both of the bureau of prison email sites Jericho gave us,  as well as a number of other prison watchers and abolitionists. And McCain, for good measure - he's supposed to be representing me.

So start putting these posts on Manning up on the blogs folks - like you did for Oso Blanco. In Europe, too. And hit these people with emails until we hear from Jericho that he's been moved, or that we're cranking it up another notch. 

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Dear Warden, FCI Cumberland -

This is in re: a prisoner recently transferred to your facility from USP Hazelton - I'm sure you know who Mr. Manning (10373-016) is. I am writing as a concerned citizen and angry taxpayer - part of the greater "public" which I think you have chosen to serve. I am also one of a growing number of Prison Watchers - and as we spread across the country we support each other's struggles: we will be supporting Tom's efforts to get good medical care. He needs an evaluation for suspicious masses to rule out cancer. This needs to be done immediately.

How you treat him will be witnessed by our brothers and sisters around the world, actually. And it will affect increasing numbers of legislative districts as our new blogs go up, to bring more pressure on congress to start changing the way people are criminalized, incarcerated, and brutalized once they get there. We prison watch in part because we've had enough of all the state violence.

There's no excuse to make people suffer while they're in prison - being separated from their families and communities and losing their liberty is the punishment the people gave them - not torture or neglect. We expect this man to be well taken care of for the money we pay to imprison him. We also expect to have him free someday, so we'd like you to take good care of him in the meantime.

Please let us know when Mr. Manning is being transferred to the Buntner, NC Federal Medical Center and scheduled to have these suspicious masses evaluated.

Copies of this email are going to my allies as well as my state senator, John McCain. He probably doesn't care much for Manning (nor will he care much for me, I imagine), but he knows what it's like to be a prisoner and as a matter of principle should be rather concerned about assuring that all our federal prisoners receive appropriate attention to medical concerns.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,


Margaret J. Plews
Arizona Prison Watch